In today’s world, data breaches and cyber-attacks are becoming increasingly common. As businesses and individuals continue to rely more on technology, the importance of securing sensitive information becomes even more critical. One of the most common ways attackers gain access to systems is through broken access control and privilege escalation. In this blog, we will explain what broken access control and privilege escalation are, why they are dangerous, and what you can do to protect yourself.

What is Broken Access Control?

Broken access control is a vulnerability that occurs when an attacker gains access to a system or data that they should not have access to. This can happen when an application fails to validate a user’s identity and authorization before granting access to sensitive information or functionality. Essentially, the attacker bypasses the system’s access controls, allowing them to access sensitive data or perform actions that they should not be able to do.

For example, imagine a healthcare application where doctors can view patient records. If the application does not properly authenticate and authorize users, an attacker could gain access to patient records by pretending to be a doctor. This could result in a breach of sensitive medical information, which could have serious consequences.

What is Privilege Escalation?

Privilege escalation is another type of vulnerability that attackers can use to gain access to sensitive information or functionality. This vulnerability occurs when an attacker gains higher-level access to a system than they should have. For example, an attacker who has only been granted read-only access to a system may be able to escalate their privileges to gain write access.

Privilege escalation can occur in several ways, including exploiting vulnerabilities in the system, tricking a user into granting higher privileges, or using social engineering techniques to gain access.

Why are Broken Access Control and Privilege Escalation Dangerous?